hermanfontenot wrote:Belmont is 30-4 and lost close games @ Vanderbilt and twice to Tennessee, including a last-second loss in Knoxville. That means they're good, right?

Wonder if Larry Bird and Carl Nicks will be attending the Valley title game.

I'll be interested to see where Belmont gets seeded. A few years ago, they were a 15 and lost by 2 to Duke.

I have to say, there aren't a lot of strong mid-major conference tourney winners or prospective winners this year. I don't think we have a Northern Iowa in the bunch this year. One might come to the forefront, but, I don't see one.

A God Damn dead man would understand that if a minor league bus in any city took a real sharp right turn, a Zack McCalister would likely fall out. - Lead Pipe

Mo. Valley is underrated as hell for a mid-major. Really shocked they don't get two-bids. They've been able to pull of a few upsets in the past, and usually I mark them down for it.

Swerb wrote:Go start a blog if you want to tell the world your incomprehendible ramblings.

Cerebral_DownTime wrote:I have a big arm and can throw the ball pretty damn far...... maybe even over those moutains. The Browns should sign me, i'll let you all in locker room to drink beer. Then we can all go out the parking lot to watch me do motorcycle stunts.

hermanfontenot wrote:Belmont is 30-4 and lost close games @ Vanderbilt and twice to Tennessee, including a last-second loss in Knoxville. That means they're good, right?

Wonder if Larry Bird and Carl Nicks will be attending the Valley title game.

I'll be interested to see where Belmont gets seeded. A few years ago, they were a 15 and lost by 2 to Duke.

I have to say, there aren't a lot of strong mid-major conference tourney winners or prospective winners this year. I don't think we have a Northern Iowa in the bunch this year. One might come to the forefront, but, I don't see one.

GMason, Utah St, UNLV, Temple & Xavier are all fine squads...

Um, and we didn't even touch on BYU or SDST...

After watching the Bucks destroy UNC-A in December by 50, I never woulda thought they'd be in the tourney?

BTW, this Aaron Carter on Indiana St is pretty fun to watch runnin round the court

I don't consider the Mountain West a basketball mid-major anymore, wabo. You can't. Not with New Mexico being a 3 seed last year, SDSU, and BYU always in the fold.

Utah St. won't really sneak up on anybody. Temple isn't athletic enough for me. UNLV beat Kansas St, but is 0-4 v. BYU/SDSU with the two BYU losses by 12 and 14. I guess it all depends on your definition of a Cinderella.

Does George Mason have a resume to get in after getting thumped by VCU today? Their best win is probably at Duquesne. I know they're 23rd in RPI, but does beating Old Dominion, VCU, and losing at Dayton and Wofford make them worthy? I guess they could be a 12 or a 13 seed, and a dangerous one at that.

A God Damn dead man would understand that if a minor league bus in any city took a real sharp right turn, a Zack McCalister would likely fall out. - Lead Pipe

I always felt that, that title game is like the perfect appetizer to Tourney time.

Swerb wrote:Go start a blog if you want to tell the world your incomprehendible ramblings.

Cerebral_DownTime wrote:I have a big arm and can throw the ball pretty damn far...... maybe even over those moutains. The Browns should sign me, i'll let you all in locker room to drink beer. Then we can all go out the parking lot to watch me do motorcycle stunts.

I love how you can stop the game to use NASA technology to see if a kids Nike's are a nanometer over the three point line, but you cant go back and look at a fuck up like the one yesterday in the Rutgers - STJ game.

"I don't think they're building chemical weapons in Berea. But they might be. I can't say for sure."Chuck Klosterman

Govbarney wrote:I love how you can stop the game to use NASA technology to see if a kids Nike's are a nanometer over the three point line, but you cant go back and look at a fuck up like the one yesterday in the Rutgers - STJ game.

Unreal. Lavin's response after the game about calls like that balancing themselves out over the course of the year.

Mike Conley would have been pleased with the triple jump at the end of the game, just needed some sand for Brownlee to land into. I thought I saw Louisville's male cheerleader pat Brownlee on the back after the game as well.

Lavin's duds are appealing to the networks.

"It's all about winning for me, and I think the Cavs are committed to doing that," he said. "But at the same time I've given myself options to this point, and like I said before, me and my team, we have a game plan that we're going to execute, and we'll see what we get."

Those smart kids play rough around the pipe. With the slow-down game, if the threes aren't falling for the Bucks, they can get beat. NW gave OSU two tough games this year, but not many teams play their style of basketball (Georgetown does, and some others). Matta's always had trouble against the slow-down game of Wisconsin/Northwestern et al, playing disciplined basketball. Good thing the Bucks were good from the line, as it really propelled them down the stretch.

That being said, the refs were loose on the big men until later in the game. Missing that shot clock violation on that 3 with only 2 min left was huge as well.

Go all out unless your seeding will be unaffected. In this case, the Bucks are a #1 lock. I'm not saying tank these games or do what the Cavs did in the final regular season games last year. I want the starters to start, but substitute liberally while keeping our stars fresh. They've played 32 games together, they know each other. I would like to see more of Thomas, Sibert, Smith, Jr and even some Weatherspoon in this game. You never know, we may need them in the tourney- injury/foul trouble whatnot. Best to give them experience in a tournament setting in which is essentially an exhibition game. It won't happen, Matta is Matta. But can you imagine the OSU hate machine rolling if Sully, Diebler, Lighty or Buford goes down in one of these games?

However I say don't change a damn thing if we meet Bucky in the title game. Let's blast these mofos in to next week and leave no doubt.

last two games they've played, have been dogshit, and I fully expect them to carry on the tradition of choking when it counts.

Swerb wrote:Go start a blog if you want to tell the world your incomprehendible ramblings.

Cerebral_DownTime wrote:I have a big arm and can throw the ball pretty damn far...... maybe even over those moutains. The Browns should sign me, i'll let you all in locker room to drink beer. Then we can all go out the parking lot to watch me do motorcycle stunts.

Squints wrote:You never know, we may need them in the tourney- injury/foul trouble whatnot.

I understand what yer saying Squints, but if they "need" them in a tourney game, they're done

You're absolutely right. But I keep having flashbacks to last year's Tennessee game, there's our rotation of 6-7 and Brucey subbing his players like they're a hockey line in the first half. And we just looked tired down the stretch. I get it, Matta ain't changing- "They can rest in April." We have at least one de facto exhibition game, you know my humble opinion/stance

As an aside- I DVRd today's game. Didn't look at my phone the whole time, resisted the urge. My Dad calls around three pm, he NEVER calls me at work, answer the phone, thinking something is wrong. "Bucks won in overtime!" Thanks Pop.